MANALIVE

A book by G. K. Chesterton detailing a popular theme both in his own philosophy, and in Christianity, of the ',holy fool',, such as in Dostoevsky',s The Idiot and Cervantes', Don Quixote. This is a book in two parts. The first, &ldquo,The Enigma of Innocent Smith,&rdquo, concerns the arrival of a new tenant at Beacon House, a London boarding establishment. Like Mary Poppins, this man (who is tentatively identified by lodger Arthur Inglewood as an ex-schoolmate named Innocent Smith) is accompanied by a great wind, and he breathes new life into the household with his games and antics. During his first day in residence the eccentric Smith creates the High Court of Beacon, arranges to elope with Mary Gray, paid companion to heiress Rosamund Hunt, inspires Inglewood to declare his love for Diana Duke, the landlady&rsquo,s daughter, and prompts a reconciliation between jaded journalist Michael Moon and Rosamund.However, when the household is at its happiest two doctors appear with awful news